My Life In Agony by Irma Kurtz
| My Life In Agony by Irma Kurtz | |
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| Category: Autobiography | |
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Reviewer: Zoe Morris
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| Summary: A reflection on 4 decades as an agony aunt, this is part personal memoir, part sound advice, and fully interesting | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 300 | Date: February 2014 |
| Publisher: Alma Books Ltd | |
| ISBN: 978-1846883118 | |
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I used to love the problem pages of magazines as a teenager. My friends and I would pour over the letters which invariable ended with some form of the question Am I normal? and mock the invariable Agony Aunt answer of Of course you’re normal, hooting instead No, you’re, really, REALLY not! That response perhaps illustrates why none of us decided to follow that as a career plan, but Irma Kurtz did, and as agony aunt for Cosmopolitan for more than 40 years it’s safe to say she has been a fair bit more sympathetic than we ever were.
I recognized the name and the face immediately, and I thought a memoir from this lady would be worth a read. After all, she has plenty to say each month to the magazine’s readers. This book isn’t a series of Q&A, either lifted from her columns or new for this venture. Instead, it’s a more personal autobiography that includes, but isn’t limited to, her thoughts and advice on various life conundrums.
This is an easy read that blends memories from her past with issues of the present, all assisted by Common Sense and Wisdom, two ‘characters’ who weigh in on many dilemmas. This was novel at first but lost its sparkle over time, and seemed an elaborate way to say you could look at x like this…or look at it like that.
What I did enjoy, though was this American’s travels to Europe, as she fell in love with Paris and then settled in London. Lots of stories I’ve read have covered this journey, but it was fun to do it over this extended time period and to see how things changed, especially the attitudes of young people, and of society as a whole.
This is a warm book full of funny anecdotes and scenes that are easy to imagine. The pages swirl around topics common to agony aunt advice seekers: diets and body image, work issues family relationships, love and sex. You can look specifically for what you’re after, or enjoy a leisurely romp through the whole thing, picking up advice along the way.
I’ve not read anything quite like it before, but I’m so glad I picked this one up and I know I’ll be referring to it again in the future.
Thanks go to the publishers for supplying this book.
For younger readers, another well known Agony Aunt had a hit with Think Pink by Lisa Clark
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You can read more book reviews or buy My Life In Agony by Irma Kurtz at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy My Life In Agony by Irma Kurtz at Amazon.com.
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